Do we need park hoppers? (How do you use yours?)

[traylorc]

I always buy the hoppers...my wife and I like having the flexibility to go to any park at any time.

That being said...I can certainly understand and empathize with those folks who have young children with them. It would be hard enough just to get around one park, much less bouncing around to multiple parks.

 

[KenHutch]

In our 4 previous trips we have never bought them and I don't think we ever will. I ask everyone about their dining choices a year out and schedule everything around park and restaurant choices (we like to eat in a lot of the hotels). And as for HS everyone says it is a half day park but we at least manage to find stuff to occupy us for 2 full days (Star Wars Geeks).

 

[loves to dive]

If you plan on only being in one park per day, no you don't need them. We have always had them since there has been more than one park to go to, now we have APs. In over 30 years of going, we have only done one park in a day once. We hop for different reasons, sometimes a park may be just too crowded so we hop to another one. We almost always go back to the resort for a break at some point during the day and end up going to a different park at night. We tend to stay at the Epcot resorts and I can't think of many trips when we didn't hop over to Epcot at some point every day. We aren't planners so we just get in a mood sometimes to go to a different park.

 

[absolutmey]

I'm going for the first time with PH+ in June. Every other trip it's been one park per day. We're getting them this time because we're there for a short trip, kids are older (DS 10 and my nephew 13) and I like the idea of rope drop, mid-day break to get out of the heat and then dinner/PM/late EMH somewhere else. We're also throwing in a morning at TL. I think this will take more planning but as long as the kids can hang, it should work out nicely and be pretty fun hopping around.

ETA: Plus, the two boys we're taking don't have any interest in WS at EP ; so we'll spend a 1/2 day at EP, 1/2 day at HS, 1/2 day at TL... PH seem to make sense.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We have APs, which includes hopping. I find that we hop a lot more than I would have guessed. I'd shudder to think I had to plan a full day at DHS. AK is not usually a full day for us either.

 

[bopper]

There are two kinds of people: Park Hoppers and Park Ploppers.

Park Ploppers plop ourselves in a park for the day. We don't "leave and take a break". We eat in that park or we go to DowntownDisney or something. I think leaving the park and travelling around is inefficient.

Park Hoppers make dinner reservations at different parks or only want to hit highlights in parks and then move on to another park. They might want to leave in the afternoon to take a break. They like the flexibility.

What type are you? Do you need to take a break and then go to a different park? Or do as much as you can at a park and then just go back to hotel?

 

[Wubar]

My wife and I are discussing wnether we need them or not as well. Currently we have 6 day PH for our trip in January. If it was just the two of us, we would DEFINITELY have them and we would hop all over the place. But this will be the first time for my 4 year old, and since are bringing him plus the fact that most parks in January don't stay open that late, leads me to think we might switch to 6 day base tickets. Our planning right now doesnt require any hopping (mind you, this is before our 60 day FP+ booking date), so switching to base tickets will save us money. We could even switch to 7 day base and save money, if we really wanted to use up the morning/early afternoon hours before we fly out that last day.

 

[DisneyFive]

We've only had hoppers for two of our Disney vacations. Our first four visits, we had no need, or desire, for them. We are very happy being one park per day people. It just doesn't really interest us to hop around. It takes time and disrupts our flow/vibe for the day. We've had park hoppers for our last two stays (one because they were required for the free dining offer, and last year was because we wanted them and the water parks too)

I think we've used park hoppers a total of one day in all of our 50+ days in the parks. We always find plenty to do at a given park for a whole day (yes, including HS). If anything, AK has become our park with the least to do, but now with Pandora that may change.

There are a number of reasons why park hoppers can be important for some though:

• If you are at WDW for a limited time and can't get to every park for a whole day, then park hoppers become important.
• If you want to dine in a park which isn't that day's "whole day park".
• You head back to the resort for an afternoon nap or break anyway, so it doesn't mess up a schedule to head to whichever park you want from that point.

Dan

 

[tlmadden73]

Hoppers are expensive, it really depends how long you are going there and how "efficient" you want to be with your vacation and park time.

They are priced so you consider just staying another day (sometimes cheaper than getting a hopper (not counting the hotel cost).

I use hoppers (only because I bought them with 10-day no expiration tickets (no longer available) on SHORT trips.
I have taken three separate 2-day trips and hoppers have been great to be able to hit three parks in 2 days. On one day, I would spend half the day in one park and then hop over to another. And those hops were with pre-schoolers. Not bad, but painful, so I only hopped one of the days.

I definitely prefer to go to a park early and stay all day, taking a break IN the park. I paid a lot a for a day ticket, I don't want to waste time transporting myself to another park (it can probably take an hour to 90 minutes to get out of one park and into another one). There is PLENTY to do in each park to use up a full day unless you are frequent (once a year or more) visitor.

If I were to go for a 4 or more day trip (enough for one full day in each park), I would just choose to save the money on hoppers and spend it on dining or other experiences outside the parks and if you have a short day "hop" to a resort or Disney Springs and enjoy the offerings there. There is so much outside the parks to see and do.
(For example, when AK used to close at like 5-6 pm, I would plan a resort dinner that evening).

I'll save getting hoppers for an adult trip or when the kids are teenagers (if they still want to go! LOL).

 

[christianweecare]

We are rope drop people and normally have AP's. We don't usually hop from park to park during the day. We will occasionally do one park during the day and maybe do another in the evening.

 

[bladiator]

I never got park hoppers until the last couple trips I've gone on. If this is a trip where you haven't been in a while, I would definitely not do hoppers (especially seeing as how you say you are planning to stay in the parks you start at). Like many people said above, once I got the PH and had that freedom and didn't have a "must do everything in every park" mentality, I loved the spontaneity of just picking up and doing anything I wanted. I know that you waste some time hopping from place to place, but when you can go ride 7DMT in the morning, go get yak and yeti for lunch and a quick EE ride, and then head to Epcot for drinks and Illuminations .... sometimes that freedom is worth more than spending every moment riding a ride.

(And its hard for me to say that, because I love filling every moment with riding a ride).

 

[revdon64]

Like others have said, we like the flexibility even if we don't use them every day. We've had trips where we bought hoppers and commando'ed one park all day for the whole trip... and we've hopped around at times too. As I'm planning our next trip, I'm looking at doing two parks every day to maximize the value of hoppers ust because the whole package has gotten fairly expensive.

 

[Mome Rath]

The only thing I can think of is if HS continues to have so many issues with rides down, I'd hate to waste a park day and we would hop to another one, but still not sure that is worth $300?

Why do you prefer to have the option? Or don't for that matter? Thank you!

We love hoppers and use them every day. Usually we start in one park and finish in another, even hopping to a 3rd if we feel like it. There are several reasons; we can ride what we want and then eat where we want without being limited to what park we start it. I use mine for crowd management as well. As an example, I started in one park, then hopped to MK which was horrendously crowded, I'm not into crowds that big at all, so I simply went out and hopped the monorail to EPCOT and spent a lovely evening there. I don't like AK, but I do like specific rides there, so it is easy to go ride what I want then head out the gate and go somewhere else.

It truly depends on touring style and what your crew prefers.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I've tried just about every WDW combo many times over: AP's, non-hoppers, hoppers. We've even added hopping mid-trip more than once!In short, we generally don't miss it when we don't have it.

Why we usually don't hop:
When you hop directly from one park to another, you lose time. Losing time generally = a disadvantage where FP's are concerned (above your first 3 FP). Hopping between HS/Epcot is only about 20minutes, but hopping to MK from any other park often costs closer to an hour.

If you pay for the new bus service, and time your departure just right, it can be faster, but the buses are on a very limited schedule.

Reasons we hopped:
1. A trip that had less than 4 park days.
2. If MK has very extended or very limited park hours.
3. During a special event- see the event then hop to another park for rides, but not the reverse.
4. Hopping for an ADR.
5. unexpected change of plans: a ride breaks down, the weather is terrible (much of AK closes during lightning), new ride has unexpected soft opening, etc.
6. Crazy coaster day!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Keep in mind, WDW's policies have shifted over time. For a while after FP started we could ONLY get 3 FP per day period, and ONLY in ONE park.

During THAT time period, there were days we did an Epcot e-ride at Rope Drop, then hopped out to use our 3 FP. Epcot only has a few useful FP's (by my count 4: TT, M:S, Soarin', and FEA). Meanwhile, MK has 5 very-useful FP (4 Mtns, PP), and at least 5 often-useful FP attractions (Pooh, Buzz, HM, PotC, JC), plus a few more sometimes-helpful FP.


As WDw's policies evolve, the value of hopping will also change again.

Another contrast is to consider the value of hopping at Universal. At US, hopping is very useful, as the two parks are very close together, and there's only two parks. Plus, you only get to go on Hogwart's Express via hopping.

 

[Jules76126]

This is a question you will get some many varied responses on. We have always had park hopper tickets. I could not imagine a trip with out them. We almost always stay at BC and go over to Epcot frequently. Our touring style is to RD a park in the morning and leave around lunch to hit the pool for the afternoon and then a different park in the evening especially for EMH. We love being able to walk over to Epcot whenever we want for dinner or a drink or just to soak up the atmosphere. And I love me so WS music. I could never be locked into one park a day but I also would hate not taking a mid day break. We are lucky and have been to Disney often and have access to DVC so I think that makes a difference in our touring style. Happy planning!

 

[Wubar]

If you pay for the new bus service, and time your departure just right, it can be faster, but the buses are on a very limited schedule.

If you are referring to the Express Transportation, hasn't that bus service been discontinued?

 

[amylevan]

I've seen some posters mention that with little kids they wouldn't bother with hopping but I'll add that we do even with our littles.

We are mid-day break people. So we rope drop a park, stay til just after lunch, head back to our resort for a break and then head back out to dinner and a park for the evening. With hoppers, the park doesn't have to be the same one as the morning (and allows us to eat at Epcot several nights). Without hoppers, we'd have to head back to the same park - which is not a huge problem, but it's just not how we roll.

 

[tzolkin]

There are two kinds of people: Park Hoppers and Park Ploppers.

We plop ourselves in a park for the day. We don't "leave and take a break". We eat in that park or we go to downtown disney or something. I think leaving the park and travelling around is inefficient. Park Hoppers make dinner reservations at different parks or only want to hit highlights in parks and then move on to another park. They like the flexibility.

What type are you? Do you need to take a break and then go to a different park? Or do as much as you can at a park and then just go back to hotel?

This is absolutely true and why neither one is the "correct" answer.

To me, going to a park from rope drop to close (especially if it's hot and/or crowded) sounds like an absolute nightmare. I'm not a "spend the day at an amusement park" type in any way, and especially not for multiple days in a row. But for others, that's what a vacation is all about.

The travel time is absolutely inefficient if you are trying to maximize your park hours. But, for us, that's an aspect that is just as enjoyable as any other part of the vacation. We are all introverts and need some time away from all the people and noise because it just gets too over-stimulating sometimes. Spending an hour of our day riding an empty bus, monorail, or boat in silence is often a much needed break for us that we just don't seem to find when we are in the parks.


We always get PHs. DH says he wouldn't even consider going if we couldn't afford/didn't want to pay the extra for them. We like the flexibility and usually always plan only one portion of the day (ex. morning rope drop at MK) so we can enjoy the rest of the day however we decide. We always hop at least once each day, sometimes more.

I don't think it's a length of trip or age of children thing either; definitely a personality thing for us. When our kids were little (pre-school until recently) all of our trips were 10-14 days. The last few trips (teenagers) have been 5-6 park days. We hopped every day of every trip at every age. When the kids were little, we planned our mornings, went to the resort for a nap/break, and then went wherever we felt like that evening. Now that the kids are older, the hoppers are especially valuable to them if they want to split off from us for a portion of the day. Also, little things like sometimes DH and I like to walk over to Epcot (if staying at one of those resorts) to grab something to eat for breakfast in France while the teenagers are sleeping, walk back, and then go to whatever park we had planned as a family later that morning.

 

[solfan68]

I've already paid for our package in full, but now that I am planning out the days, I really only have us going to one park per day. There is an afternoon break in there, but I have us returning to the same park that evening. I guess that is just the way I planned it and we could always do a different park at night, but not sure why?

The only thing I can think of is if HS continues to have so many issues with rides down, I'd hate to waste a park day and we would hop to another one, but still not sure that is worth $300?

Why do you prefer to have the option? Or don't for that matter? Thank you!

We also do the mid-day break. Sometimes returning to the park, other times not. It also gives us the flexibility to eat wherever we want, and not to have ADR's dictate where we will spend the day touring.